Students are expected to be at a Novice High language proficiency level by the end of 2nd Year:
Novice High language learners accuracy expectations in the four skills of language learning: Descriptions reproduced from the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 document.
Speaking
handle a variety of tasks pertaining to the Intermediate level, but are unable to sustain performance at that level.
manage successfully a number of uncomplicated communicative tasks in straightforward social situations.
converse in a few of the predictable topics necessary for survival in the target language culture, such as basic personal information, basic objects, and a limited number of activities, preferences, and immediate needs.
respond to simple, direct questions or requests for information.
ask a few formulaic questions.
express personal meaning by relying heavily on learned phrases or recombinations of these and what they hear from their interlocutor.
produce short and sometimes incomplete sentences in the present, and may be hesitant or inaccurate.
may at times sound surprisingly fluent and accurate since their language often consists of expansions of learned material and stock phrases.
express pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax that is strongly influenced by their first language.
can generally be understood by sympathetic interlocutors used to non-natives.
Listening
are often but not always able to understand information from sentence-length speech, one utterance at a time, in basic personal and social contexts where there is contextual or extralinguistic support, though comprehension may often be very uneven.
understand speech dealing with areas of practical need such as highly standardized messages, phrases, or instructions, if the vocabulary has been learned.
Reading
understand, fully and with relative ease, key words and cognates, as well as formulaic phrases across a range of highly contextualized texts.
understand predictable language and messages where vocabulary has been learned, such as those found on train schedules, roadmaps, and street signs.
derive meaning from short, non-complex texts that convey basic information for which there is contextual or extralinguistic support.
Writing
meet limited basic practical writing needs using lists, short messages, postcards, and simple notes.
express themselves within the context in which the language was learned, relying mainly on practical material.
compose writing that is focused on common elements of daily life.
recombine learned vocabulary and structures to create simple sentences on very familiar topics, but are not able to sustain sentence-level writing all the time.
compose writing that may only partially communicate the intentions of the writer.
writing is often comprehensible to natives used to the writing of non-natives, but gaps in comprehension may occur.
Novice High language learners accuracy expectations in the four skills of language learning:
Descriptions reproduced from the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012 document.
Speaking
Listening
Reading
Writing